The Swan and the Phoenix
by MiyuWrites
Summary: They met for the first time at the ice rink. The evolution of the relationship through time. AU. Natsu/Gray. Dedicated to MinaKushi4LIFE
1. Start

**A/N:** This story is dedicated to MinaKushi4LIFE who asked me to write something in this sort of AU, a long time ago.

Sorry it took so long to start it. Hope it's to your liking. :)  
Also, disclaimer: I just watch ice skating casually. Heck, this year I sort of missed everything. So yeah, I do ask for suspension of disbelief while reading. Thank you.

* * *

**The Swan and the Phoenix**

**Start**

They met at the ice rink.

Natsu's parents had taken him to have ice skating lessons – which were just starting.

So after going through the several needed steps, as well as buying the needed things, classes were finally starting.

There was a lot of noise, the class was filled with a lot of kids who were excited about ice skating. Natsu even knew one or two from his pre-school.

"I'll be here watching, honey," his mother told him, ruffling his hair before she walked away.

Natsu put his game face and sat in one of the benches, making sure to tie the skates properly. From prior incursions to the ice rink, he knew that it was very important that the skates were well tied. Standing up, he slowly wobbled towards the entry to the rink. The skates still had the guards on and it was a bit odd; he should've practiced a bit more at home.

Standing by the entryway to the rink – and where there were two girls still standing, chatting while they removed the guards from their skates – Natsu got ready and stepped into the ice rink.

It was a freeing moment.

Just by stepping into the icy expanse, Natsu felt as if he had wings and could fly – such was the freedom.

The class was gathered slightly into a corner, lots of other kids and two teachers who seemed to be chuckling slightly.

Before long class was beginning, with the teachers giving them the proper form to the basics.

Everyone got to practice and Natsu did have a lot of fun losing himself in the motions. Yes, there were quite a few falls – his bum, knees and hands were sure to complain later – but all in all, it was very fun. He even started talking to a few of the other kids but before long, the problems started.

Natsu knocked against another boy and fell down.

When he looked up, the other was looking down at him.

"What're you doing?" the dark haired boy asked.

"You should look where you're going." Natsu grumbled.

"Me?" the other asked in disbelief. "You're the one who hit me!" He crossed his arms and looked stubbornly at him.

Natsu stood up and glared. He opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by one of the girls, Lucy, he thought that was her name.

"Natsu, come on. We're waiting." She said, smiling.

"Sure," Natsu replied as he still glared at the other. "Better to be with people who know how to look at where they're going."

"Shut up." He heard the grumbling coming from behind.

Natsu shrugged and did his thing. But he couldn't help but catch the other in the corner of his eye.

* * *

_Little did any of them know that this encounter would light the spark to a rivalry that was going to last for many years._


	2. Slide

A/N: Again, I'm just an informal watcher of ice skating.

Unbetaed.

* * *

Slide

A few years had gone by.

A strange mix between rivalry and friendship emerging between Natsu and Gray.

Everyone from their class had improved, branched out and chosen their own paths. With everyone's growth there were some changes, new people were met, competitions and school started to fill up the time.

Yet, it was noticeable how there was something there, between Natsu and Gray. Their urge to outdo the other kept everyone on their toes.

And seeing their results in competition – at least so far – also showed their strange connection.

The first important event they competed in, Gray won while Natsu took second place. Only for things to get reversed in the next one with Natsu taking the gold.

At that point, the big changes also started to happen. Gray's father was transferred to a nearby town and the whole family moved out. Their schedules for practice and class also got harsher and off sync. Gray went to a different ice rink now, with different colleagues, friends and coaches. Some effort was still made to see if they could meet, the friendship component still mattered quite a bit, but it got too difficult.

Texts and emails were exchanged but there was some shallowness slowly creeping in.

There were still a few meets where they got together, but for the most, their paths had parted.

And then there was that fateful day.

They were competing at the regionals.

Natsu had just finished his free skate performance and gotten his score and rank. He was still under his season best and that was bumming him a lot. He just _had_ to show Gray how much better he was.

Lucy approached him. She had come to cheer on him, as she'd already finished for the day – the girls competition had been in the morning and the boys' was in the afternoon. She had a strange expression, muted from her usually bubbly self.

"What's up, Luce?" Natsu asked, holding onto her hand as she extended hers.

"Did you hear?" she said instead.

"Hear what?" was the instant response. Natsu was starting to guess that something was off.

"It's Gray."

"What about him? Did he get hurt?" Natsu started, only to catch himself. "No, that's not it. He's performing right now," Natsu waved his free hand, a gesture meant to showcase the music sounding from the rink.

"So you haven't…" Lucy sighed. She glanced at Natsu, sadness oozing off her. "Huh… see, we just learned that Gray and his parents are going to move to Pergrande."

"What! You're kidding!" Natsu's exclamation and raised voice had people glancing at the pair. "That can't be true. We had… we were… no. It can't be true." Natsu denied, shaking his head vehemently. He could feel a weight settling on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I know you guys had some plans." Lucy placed a comforting hand in Natsu's shoulder.

"I… I need to go talk to Gray." Natsu said as he turned on his heel and walked swiftly towards the rink.

Gray was at the end of his piece. All Natsu had to do was wait. And fume. And wait some more for Gray to finish his part.

As soon as the score was given – and Natsu was so bothered that he didn't even register the rank at which his friend-and-rival had ended up – Natsu approached Gray.

"We have to talk." And without further ado, he grasped Gray's wrist and started to take him to one of the empty rooms in the bowels of the large arena.

When they stopped and stared at each other, the air in the room seemed to still for a beat. And then Gray broke the stalemate.

"So you've heard." He said straight away.

"Yeah, I just heard. What the hell, Gray!" Natsu huffed and crossed his arms. He drummed the fingers of his right hand on his arm before letting his arms fall to the sides of his body. A slight _swooshing_ noise coming from the fabric of his clothes.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Gray raised his hands in a placating manner. "My father was promoted and we have to move again."

"Fine. But why didn't you tell me, you asshole?" Natsu raised his hands in frustration.

"I'm not the asshole!" Gray stepped menacingly until he was almost nose-to-nose with Natsu. "At most, I'm a good friend because you've only learned this after your performance and it hasn't fucking broken your focus which led you to botch your program." Gray nearly barked out the last words, giving Natsu a small shove.

"What!"

"Didn't you hear? You're in first place. I landed on fourth because I fell on the ice." Gray deadpanned.

"You fell? You don't…" Natsu was starting to say but he started blinking and bit on his lower lip. Then he looked back up at Gray, very intensely. "You had a lot on your mind."

"No shit." Gray replied sarcastically.

Natsu ran a hand over his hair, grimacing slightly at the gummy feeling.

"Sorry, I…" Natsu began to apologize only to be rebuffed by a sharp move of Gray's hand. "What the hell Gray," He said dejectedly, "what are we going to do now?"

Gray snorted, a mirthless smile appearing on his lips.

"Skate. What else?" he looked at Natsu, finally meeting his gaze.

"Okay. But how?" Natsu's intense stare was still on.

"You keep doing your thing, I guess." Gray shrugged and looked down at his hands. He was twisting them out of nervous habit. Then he stopped and looked back up. "As for me, I'll keep practicing, getting better and the next time I see you, I'll kick your sorry ass."

"Ah! You wish!" Was Natsu's instant reply, accompanied by a bright smile. The smile diminished and Natsu became serious again. "But, you think you can still compete here?"

"Hopefully, yes. But, what can I say?" Gray said with a shrug before straightening up. "I mean, why not? But I promise we will meet again."

"When?"

"Maybe at the nationals? Next year probably because right now I have no clue about how things are going to be."

"I promise I will get to the nationals and kick your sorry ass." Natsu said as he extended his hand.

"It's a promise." Gray echoed, as he took the offered hand.

Only for both to break the handshake pretty quickly with grimaces on their faces.

"What gel did you put in your hair?"

Natsu's only answer was a laugh.


End file.
